Delhi's IGI airport is probably one of the busiest in India and for good reason. With a massive influx of incoming and outgoing domestic as well as international flights, the airport sees a huge footfall each day and the number is only rising day by day. According to experts, in a few years, IGI airport won't be fit to handle the capacity of travellers and with that in mind, DIAL has announced that by 2022, IGI airport will be completely revamped, expanded and will be at par with some of the best airports in the world.

Readers must keep in mind that this is no small feat. To completely revamp an existing airport that already sees a huge number of people everyday, without disrupting activities and flights is something that will require a lot of planning. As part of the overhaul, IGI airport will be given a makeover from the ground up- the existing terminals will be expanded, internal traversal facilities will be included, more state of the art facilities will be added, roads around the airport will be revamped and a whole lot more.

Here are the major changes coming to IGI airport in a matter of a few years.

State of the art facilities

• Speaking of state of the art facilities, the new IGI airport will have a slew of them. Though IGI airport is already one of the most developed and futuristic airports, the new facilities will only bring it at par with the best airports around the world. One of the best developments is that you will no longer need to check in with paper based boarding passes, rather, you can use facial biometrics.
• Self check in baggage carousels and automated tray retrieval systems are some of the more futuristic facilities coming to the airport. These will help you save a lot of time while you’re under the process of getting in the waiting area of the airport and will also ensure that you don’t have to reach the airport hours before your actual flight time.
• Apart from that, there are some other basic facilities such as the increase in the number of baggage claim carousels, more boarding gates, faster screening capacity, reduced security check times, check in islands and a lot more.

Expanded flyer capacity

• One of the major reasons that the airport is being expanded is to accommodate the growing passenger base. In just a matter of a few years, experts claim that the yearly footfall will reach around 4 crores, a substantial jump from the current 2 crore passengers.
• The authorities aim to combine terminal 1C and 1D into one massive terminal to accommodate most of the domestic passengers. For this, the entire area will be demolished and after that, a terminal with 88 stands (entry and exit points) will be built. At the new terminal, the authorities will replicate a lot of T3 and it’s state of the art facilities.

Roads surrounding the airport

• As of now, the roads around the airport often tend to go unattended which lead to massive traffic jams. This is not to say that the roads are not infra-structurally sound just that they aren’t enough to manage the heavy influx of traffic. Earlier, the roads were enough but now, they are unable to do so.
• To combat this, the authorities have decided to heavily focus on Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 as of now. Their goal is to shift all existing domestic flights to these terminals and use Terminal 3 solely for international flights. For this, they aim to double the amount of lanes around Terminal 1.
• This is mainly being done so as to better manage flights and passengers going to different countries. Since international flights have longer security and check in procedures, the authorities will be able to manage passengers more seamlessly.

Runways and facilities for aircrafts

• In a first in India, the new and revamped IGI airport will have a total of four runways. This means that more flights will be able to take off and land at the airport at any given time, thereby increasing the air traffic as well.
• Apart from the fourth runway, there will also be elevated taxiways. This will also be another first for any airport in India. The 2 kilometer elevated taxiways will make it easier for aircrafts to travel between different terminals of the airport. Since this will enable the planes to reach runways faster, it will increase the frequency of aircrafts taking off and landing at the airport.

Internal and external traversal routes

• Since IGI airport is one of the largest in the country, it is vital that passengers get from one point of the airport to the other as quickly as possible. As of now, there are carts with a carrying capacity of 9 that ply within the airport and are mainly for the use of elderly and disabled people.
• More such carts will be used and the number of walkalators will also be increased. All this will be done to facilitate better and smoother travels for flyers. Since Terminal 1 will be absolutely massive, this is the need of the hour.
• Not only are the traversal routes inside the airport great for commuters, but also for aircrafts. With the help of the aforementioned taxiways, aircrafts can go from terminal to terminal much faster and result in less delays.

The fact that the airport is undergoing a complete change is great news for us. The airport was overcrowded and authorities were unable to keep up with the ever expanding flyer base. The expansion and makeover of IGI airport is the need of the hour and we’re glad to see that steps are being taken to make the dream come true. Expect a completely new IGI airport by 2022.